Academics

History

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The history curriculum is intended to help students develop the traditional skills of critical reading, persuasive writing, analytical thinking and doing research, all in the context of learning about the past. That past includes cultures both within and without the European and American traditions. Additionally, the department seeks to develop in students an historical consciousness – to understand that people in the past were different from people today. They had different values, and operated under different assumptions about the world and themselves, than do contemporary people. The students’ grasp of such an understanding, including the way in which culture changes over time, is the product partly of analysis and partly of imagination, and is central to every course we present. The development of such an historical sense sharpens one’s ability to perceive the experiences of others. We believe that this will be a crucial skill for educated people to have in an increasingly interconnected and culturally diverse world.

In 6th grade the course focuses on the meeting of cultures. Studies begin with the European Renaissance, turn to pre-Columbian America, and end with the European explorers. In the spring the 6th grade becomes departmentalized.

7th and 8th grade continues with a two-year American history course. The 7th grade curriculum begins with the study of culture and continues from the time of early colonial settlement through the founding of the United States and culminating in the Civil War.  In 8th grade, students study the post Civil War period to the present focusing on such topics as turn of the century immigration and labor, the two World Wars, the Civil Rights Movement, Vietnam and so on up to the present time.  In both courses, students develop research skills for oral reports and papers, work with primary sources, and develop their critical thinking. All courses coordinate with the English curriculum.

Throughout the year, all three grades take multiple field trips to museums and historical venues, such as, the Mutter Museum, the Philadelphia Art Museum, the Constitution Center, Independence Hall and Ellis Island to name a few.

231 Comparative Cultures
required major
Grade: 9

The purpose of this course is two-fold: First, students will gain background in three cultural areas: China, Ghana, and Mexico. They will be encouraged to appreciate cultures other than their own, and to discern those qualities which are universal and those that are unique. An examination of problems of modern nation building will help them to apply their background knowledge to current events. Second, the students will gain experience in analytical thinking and the organization of large quantities of material through writing a number of short essays, essay tests and one long-term research paper. Emphasis will be placed on essay outlines, and learning to support generalizations with solid evidence. One 8-week unit will be devoted to taking each student through a step-by-step process of writing a sound research paper on a topic of his/ her choice, with a good deal of time spent helping students individually in the library.

242 Ancient and Medieval Civilizations
required major
Grade: 10

This course examines the evolution of the civilizations of the Middle East, the Mediterranean basin, and Western Europe from their origins in the ancient world to the societies of the late middle ages. The course includes discussion of ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, Israel, the Aegean Bronze Age, classical Greece and the attainment of democracy, the Roman Republic and Empire, the advent of Christianity, the Romano-Germanic kingdoms and the Byzantine Empire, the rise and expansion of Islam, medieval intellectual and political modalities, and the development of urbanism in Western Europe.  Emphasis is placed on the intellectual and political aspects of the periods in the effort both to narrow the range of the subject matter and to highlight the continuities as well as the discontinuities of ancient and medieval civilizations.  To that end, students’ intellectual skills are honed by the critical reading of primary and secondary sources, the logical use of evidence, the development of historical imagination, and the construction of well reasoned arguments both on paper and in the classroom.

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241 Latin History
required major
Grade: 10

By combining the study of history and third year Latin, this course affords students a unique opportunity to immerse themselves in interdisciplinary study. The center piece of this course (November to March) concerns the events which brought the Roman Republic to an end. By reading Caesar’s account of the civil war (De bello civili) and Cicero’s Letters detailing the same events, students become intimately familiar with the only primary documents which have survived from this time – documents which every historian of this period must rely upon and know. In order to appreciate the reasons for the Republic’s demise, students spend September to November studying the rise of the Roman Republic, its constitution, and the ethos of its ruling class. At the same time in Latin III, students are being familiarized with the literary styles of Caesar and Cicero by translating sections of Caesar’s De bello gallico and Cicero’s In Catilinam. From March to the end of the year, students study the Roman imperial period, and in that context, the rise of Christianity. After analyzing the reasons for the collapse of the empire in the West, students turn to consider the historical conditions which created the medieval world. In conjunction with these historical investigations, students read an assortment of primary Latin texts relating to the times, discovering thereby the evolution of the Latin language, as well as the refocusing of human concerns from a Classical to a medieval perspective.

251 Modern European History 
major elective
Grade: 11

 

Modern European History covers the political, social, and intellectual developments on the European continent from the 16th century to the present. Major topics that are explored include the Renaissance, Reformation, Scientific Revolution, Enlightenment, French Revolution, Industrialization, Imperialism, World Wars, Holocaust, and Cold War. To complement these historical topics, students also work on three projects throughout the year. In the fall, students study the impacts of the “Reformation in Germantown,” exploring the history of the churches along Germantown Avenue and linking these with developments in Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries. In the spring, students examine the ways that the Second World War and the Holocaust have been instantiated in museums, films, and other “sites of memory.” In the yearlong project called “History in the Making,” students follow a specific European country in the news and relate current events with its specific historical past. Students are exposed to a wide array of primary and secondary source documents, as well as images and films, to develop an appreciation of how events in Europe over the past 500 years have shaped and influenced the world today. In addition to examining the diversity of actions, ideas, and people within Europe, students also explore the interactions between Europeans and the rest of the world.


 

261 United States History
required major
Grade: 12

Senior U.S. History is an advanced course examining the development of the United States as a cultural, political and economic entity from its 17th century European and African antecedents to the recent past.  Heavy emphasis is placed on primary sources, both through published collections and through numerous documents and images collated by the faculty, but students are also assigned recent books and articles by contemporary scholars.  In addition to the skills of close reading and persuasive written and verbal expression, students are asked to exercise their imaginations and powers of analysis by putting themselves in the places of many participants in the story of the American past.  Students are required to express their understanding through a combination of intensive class work, papers, tests, role plays, debates and individual presentations.

World Religions Seminar
Grades: 11 and 12
The purpose of this course is to assist students in acquiring an educated, intelligent understanding about religion by exposing them to the beliefs and practices of the world’s major religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.  In our effort to come to an understanding of these religious traditions, we will approach them with reverence and, in so far as possible, enter into their spiritual worlds through the eyes and hearts of their adherents.  To this end, while studying the origins and history of each religion, we will endeavor to discover whatever shared values and commitments they exhibit by acquiring a familiarity with their respective scriptures, beliefs, and ritual practices.  A special feature of this seminar will be field trips to local religious sites where followers of these five belief traditions gather.  Such visits will allow us to observe the different forms of prayer and worship and to hear and talk with the spiritual leaders of each religion first hand.


Faculty